Honest Man of the Year

Khushwant Singh's name is bound to go down in Indian literary history as one of the finest historians and novelists, a forthright political commentator, and an outstanding observer and social critic. In July 2000, he was conferred the "Honest Man of the Year Award" by the Sulabh International Social Service Organization for his courage and honesty in his "brilliant incisive writing." At the award ceremony, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh described him as a "humourous writer and incorrigible believer in human goodness with a devil-may-care attitude and a courageous mind."

So what is the secret of the man's sense of humour that remains alive even at 98!.
The “dirty old man of Indian journalism”, revealed recently his tricks of Life Sutra, in his Deccan Herald column.
1) If you cannot play a game or exercise, get yourself a nice massage once if not two times a day. Not a greasy oil massage, but powerful hands going all over your body from skull to toes.
2) Cut down on your intake of food and drink.  Maintain a strict routine for intake of food. Use a stop watch if necessary. Guava juice is better than any other fruit juice
3) Forget ragi malt. A single peg of single malt whisky at night gives you a false appetite. Before you eat dinner, say to yourself ‘Don’t eat much’.
4) Eat one kind of vegetable or meat, followed by a pinch of chooran. Eat alone and in silence. Idli-dosa is healthier and easier to digest.
5) Never allow yourself to be constipated. Keep your bowels clean by whatever means you can: by lexatives, enemas, glycerine suppositories.
6) Keep a healthy bank balance for peace of mind. It does not have to be in crores, but enough for your future needs and possibility of falling ill.
7) Never lose your temper.
8) Never tell a lie.
9) Cleanse your soul, give generously. Remember you cannot take it with you. You may give it to your children, your servants or in charity.
10) Instead of whiling your time praying, take up a hobby: like gardening, helping children.
Bonus suggestion: If you can afford it, get yourself some nice genes.

Who is reading Virginia Woolf

The 2003 film on Virginia Woolf - THE HOURS had regenerated a lot of interest in the writer who has never been read as mush she was discussed.

Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf

Woolf had begun to to write professionally in 1900, initially for journalistic pieces about  Haworth and Bronte family. Her first novel, The Voyage Out, was published in 1915 by her half-brother's imprint, Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd. But from the very begining of her career, Woolf had to face various types of criticism. Woolf's work was criticised for epitomising the narrow world of the upper-middle class English intelligentsia. Some critics judged it to be lacking in universality and depth, without the power to communicate anything of emotional or ethical relevance to the disillusioned common reader,weary of the 1920s . She was also criticised by some as an anti-Semite, despite her being happily married to a Jewish man. This anti-semitism is drawn from the fact that she often wrote of Jewish characters in stereotypical archetypes and generalisations, including describing some of her Jewish characters as physically repulsive and dirty.

But none of the above mentioned facts were responsible ever for her sales. She had sold all through the 20th century. But these days very few readers read Woolf. This is because of the language and the strange literary style called 'internal monologue' that she and James Joyce (author of Ulysess) had started.

In literary criticism, stream of consciousness or internal monologue is seeks to portray an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought process either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his or her actions. Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually characterized by associative leaps in syntax and punctuation that can make the prose difficult to follow. Stream of consciousness and interior monologue are distinguished from dramatic monologue, where the speaker is addressing an audience or a third person, which is used chiefly in poetry or drama. In stream of consciousness, the speaker's thought processes are more often depicted as overheard in the mind (or addressed to oneself); it is primarily a fictional device. The term was introduced to the field of literary studies from that of psychology, where it was coined by philosopher and psychologist William James.

This style is gradually losing its apeal in a fast moving world of today. It is would not be a surprise, if in future Woolf is remembered more for the way she was portrayed by Nicol Kidman in the hollywood flick rather than her original books once well read in the university campuses.